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Published on : 06/15/2022 – 00:02
After legal action and an emergency decision from the European Court of Human Rights, the plane specially chartered to deport up to 130 migrants to Rwanda will not leave on Tuesday evening. The measure, pushed by London, was sharply criticized. But the British government has assured not to be “discouraged”.
It is a humiliating setback for the British government. Despite his determination to deport migrants to Rwanda To deter illegal arrivals in the UK, the first flight, scheduled for Tuesday June 14 evening, was canceled following last-minute appeals.
With its plan to send asylum seekers who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to this East African country, more than 6,000 km from London, the government claims to curb illegal crossings of the Channel, which stop rising despite its repeated promises to control immigration since Brexit.
This project criticized by the UN is very popular among the conservative electorate, while Boris Johnson tries to restore his authority after having escaped a vote of no confidence from his party. But after legal action, and an emergency decision from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the plane specially chartered for hundreds of thousands of euros finally remained on the ground.
“Disappointment”
A volte-face which “disappointed” Interior Minister Priti Patel who attacked the ECHR. “I have always said that this policy would not be easy to enforce and I am disappointed that legal challenges and last minute claims have prevented today’s flight from taking off,” she said on Tuesday evening. .
The minister considered it “very surprising that the European Court of Human Rights intervened despite repeated previous successes before our national courts”. “We will not be discouraged from doing the right thing and implementing our plans to control the borders of our country,” she warned, however, adding that the government’s legal team “reviews every decision taken. on this flight and preparation for the next flight begins now”.
Originally, the authorities planned to expel up to 130 migrants (Iranians, Iraqis, Albanians or Syrians) in this first flight, a figure which has been reduced to a trickle following various individual appeals.
And in a last-minute twist, the ECHR stopped the deportation of an Iraqi asylum seeker on Tuesday evening, taking a temporary emergency measure. A source of relief for associations defending the rights of migrants who consider the government’s project cruel and inhuman.
The Strasbourg-based ECHR ruled that the deportation of the Iraqi should be postponed until a British court has considered the legality of the bill, which is expected in July. This is in particular to ensure that migrants can have access to fair procedures in Rwanda and that Rwanda is considered a safe country.
“Assault on the ECHR”
Associations or organizations supporting refugees welcomed this outcome, such as the Refugee Council, which expressed its “tremendous relief” on Twitter.
“Now we must prepare to resist the all-out Tory assault on the ECHR that is sure to come,” warned Scottish First Minister and leader of Scottish independence, Nicola Sturgeon.
According to the conservative daily The Telegraph, the British government could reconsider its accession to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to be able to implement its strategy, despite criticism, from the Anglican Church to Prince Charles who judges the “appalling” project, according to the Times.
In the meantime, for the government the setback is scathing. The dailies Metro and The Mirror evoke a “masquerade” while the left-wing newspaper The Guardian underlines the “chaos” caused.
With AFP
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